SLAM and Exploration using Differential Evolution and Fast Marching

The exploration and construction of maps in unknown environments is a challenge for robotics. The proposed method is facing this problem by combining effective techniques for planning, SLAM, and a new exploration approach based on the Voronoi Fast Marching method. The final goal of the exploration task is to build a map of the environment that previously the robot did not know. The exploration is not only to determine where the robot should move, but also to plan the movement, and the process of simultaneous localization and mapping. This work proposes the Voronoi Fast Marching method that uses a Fast Marching technique on the Logarithm of the Extended Voronoi Transform of the environment’s image provided by sensors, to determine a motion plan. The Logarithm of the Extended Voronoi Transform imitates the repulsive electric potential from walls and obstacles, and the Fast Marching Method propagates a wave over that potential map. The trajectory is calculated by the gradient method. The robot is directed towards the most unexplored and free zones of the environment so as to be able to explore all the workspace. Finally, to build the environment map while the robot is carrying out the exploration task, a SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Modeling) algorithm is implemented, the Evolutive Localization Filter (ELF) based on a differential evolution technique. The combination of these methods provide a new autonomous exploration strategy to construct consistent maps of 2D indoor environments.